High-pressure water jet cutting heads and feed systems are widely known in the field. Various systems provide a conduit for delivering the high-pressure fluid to the cutting head, which is mounted on a positioning carriage. The positioning carriage transports the cutting head along an x-axis and a y-axis, accessing an infinite number of points that define a two-dimensional plane over a cutting surface. The extreme speed at which the cutting head moves throughout the plane in order to make appropriate cuts on a work product on the cutting surface results in tremendous stresses on the components of the cutting head, the carriage, the control connections and leads, and the high-pressure feed line. The stresses caused by the movements result in failures of the components.
Various techniques are employed in order to diminish the stress and wear on the high-pressure feed line. Some of these techniques include providing coils in the feed line tubing at points that require movement, providing a support structure between the cutting containment housing and the cutting head, stabilizing the feed line tubing at movement points of the support structure. Complications still occur at both the connection points of the support structure and points where the feed line tubing contacts the support structure.
A relatively successful configuration includes polymer dampeners that secure the stabilization structure to a cutting containment housing and cutting head. Although this configuration provides sufficient range and freedom of motion, at the extremely high speeds at which the carriage and cutting head move, a certain amount of vibration still exists which, after time, results in feed line failures.